Cover

Title Page, Copyright

Contents

Illustrations

Foreword

Grounded in the South Asian Oral History Project (SAOHP) sponsored
by the University of Washington Libraries, Roots and Reflections:
South Asians in the Pacific Northwest is a pioneering study of the
establishment and growth of the vibrant South Asian communities in the
Pacific Northwest. Unlike other histories of the region, this...

Preface

This book is the result of many levels of collaboration; by its very design,
the South Asian Oral History Project (SAOHP) has been a collaborative
endeavor among the narrators, the University of Washington Libraries,
members of the SAOHP advisory board, and the larger University of
Washington community, including the University of Washington Press. As...

Introduction: Situating Stories: An Introduction to South Asian Communities in the Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest,1 with its snowcapped mountains, bountiful
waterways, and emerald forests, has long occupied a place in the American
imagination as a site of exploration, discovery, and the conclusion of a
nation’s “manifest destiny.” With a rich and storied history, the region has
played host to old and new cultures coexisting in a sometimes tenuous,
but always vibrant, balance...

1. “Finding Traces of Our Existence Here”: Pre-World War Two South Asian Migrations

On the evening of September 4, 1907, several Indian3 men were settling
in for the night after putting in a long day at the local lumber mills
in Bellingham, Washington. Close to the Canadian border in the northwestern
corner of Washington State, Bellingham was then a bustling mill
town and seaport and the county seat of Whatcom County. Although...

2. Routes and Roots: Stories of Departure and Arrival

Her sari fluttering in the sea breeze as she waved to friends and family
gathered on the shore, Shanta Gangolli felt a wave of excitement
wash over her as she prepared to embark on a new life alongside her young
husband. Only after the ocean liner pulled away from the dock in Calcutta
and the familiar faces faded into the masses did the enormity of her voyage...

3. Creating Professional Classes: Education and Training

On a sweltering August day in 1979, Lakshmi Gaur was filled with trepidation
and excitement as she stepped into a large meeting room at the
Ministry of Education in Delhi. Leaving nothing to chance, she had dressed
carefully that morning in a green sari, as that was her lucky color. Gaur had
been studying at Punjab University...

4. All in a Day’s Work: Employment, Migration, and Identity

When Raj Joshi arrived in Seattle in the 1950s, he found a predominantly
white city with a segregated educational system, de facto
redlining that marked where people of color could not rent or buy homes,
and a working environment that made Indians like him feel like outsiders.
Although he was well-credentialed and trained in Washington State...

5. Falling from the Tree: Family, Gender, and Generational Differences

When the snow began to fall during her first winter in the United
States in 1958, Shanta Gangolli began to have serious doubts about
her decision to accompany her husband to chilly Cambridge, Massachusetts,
as he began his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
After the initial excitement of her overseas voyage had worn off, the reality...

6. Seeds take Root: Growing South Asian Communities in the Pacific Northwest

As the last days of summer faded and the gray drizzle marked the onset
of autumn in Seattle, each year the Wahi household would turn from
warm-weather pursuits toward preparations for a Diwali party. Diwali, the
Hindu festival of lights marking the arrival of the new year, was a big event
for many Indians living near their home in Mercer Island...

Epilogue: Meditations on Methodologies

More than a century after the first Sikh migrants set foot on the western
shores of Canada and wound their way down the coast, South
Asian communities in the Pacific Northwest thrive in the rich inheritance
of that first arrival. South Asians created new institutions and organizations
in the region, even during the “barred zone” period of Asian...

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